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FreedomPop FREE 1GB Home Internet Service

The CEO of FreedomPop is eyeing Americans who don't use huge amounts of data as the target for a new wireless home broadband service.

FreedomPop is starting pre-orders for its new home broadband modem and Internet service Wednesday. The company will sell users an US$89 WiMax and Wi-Fi home router with a free gigabyte of data available per month and each further gigabyte priced at less than $10, according to CEO Stephen Stokols.

It's another gadfly move from the company that developed a "free" wireless plan for the iPod Touch.

With its home service, the company isn't going after the data "whales" -- as Stokols describes himself -- but is instead targeting the minnows. The median household in the U.S., Stokols points out, uses just over 5MB for data at home a month.

Stokols isn't saying exactly how much the extra gigabytes will cost customers yet but makes it clear he wants to get pricing as low as possible: "$9.99 or under."

FreedomPop also sweetens the deal by allowing customers the opportunity to earn more through promotions and by recruiting friends to the service.

Using the Clearwire LLC (Nasdaq: CLWR) WiMax network, the service will cover the top 80 U.S. metro areas, except Phoenix and San Diego -- "about 80 million Americans," Stokols says.

The home broadband service is expected to be up and running by the end of January.

FreedomPop, meanwhile, is making progress toward using Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S)'s Long Term Evolution (LTE) network in 2013. "We’re going to be ready as far as technical onboarding in Q1," Stokols says.

But the lack of available LTE devices for its services could push that into the second quarter, he says.

Could I accumulate refferals like with the other devices to increase the free data by 500MB to total 1.5GB on the freedom hub burst?

It appears you can accumulate more free usage.

FreedomPop home users will receive 1 GB of free data each month and can earn unlimited data by adding friends to their network via email and social media networks, and engaging in partner promotions. The company also offers heavier data users a variety of cost-effective plans, starting at under $10 per month – 80 percent cheaper than today's DSL or cable offerings.

Clearwire (NASDAQ:CLWR) MVNO FreedomPop said its WiMAX-powered $89 Burst home router device is now available for purchase. The device brings with it new pricing options from FreedomPop, which is offering Burst owners 1 GB of free data per month.

FreedomPop's "freemium" business model is designed to entice users to the service with a free package of data in the hope that customers will purchase additional data allotments or other services from FreedomPop. The MVNO said Burst users who consume more than 1 GB can purchase additional data at $5 per GB. Users can also purchase a 10 GB package of data for $9.99 per month, with additional data beyond that amount priced at $5 per GB.

Beyond the data buckets, FreedomPop is upselling with faster data speeds. Burst users can purchase speeds of up to 6 Mbps for $14.99 per month and speeds up to 12 Mbps for $18.99 per month. FreedomPop currently offers 500 MB of free data to its existing customers, who can access the company's service through portable hotspots, USB modems and iPod touch cases. FreedomPop is planning to release a range of new products, including cases for Android phones and iPhones, in the coming months.

FreedomPop's Burst represents the company's attempt to break into the market for DSL and cable-based home Internet service, which FreedomPop said is worth $100 billion. Indeed, the company said that 70 percent of Americans use less than 10 GB per month on their home Internet service.

Earlier this year, FreedomPop CEO Stephen Stokols told FierceWireless that the company's free-to-paid conversion rate is 30 percent. He also said that 10 percent of the company's customers use more than their 500 MB free allotment per month, and therefore must pay overage fees. Stokols declined to say how many customers FreedomPop has.

Although FreedomPop's current products run on Clearwire's WiMAX network, the company is working to launch LTE service using Sprint Nextel's (NYSE:S) LTE network. Stokols recently disclosed that FreedomPop "slightly delayed" its tentative LTE launch from the second quarter of this year to the third quarter of this year. Interestingly, the company said that customers who purchase its new Burst router will be able to switch out their device for an LTE version at some point in the future. The company said users who wish to upgrade to LTE will be able to trade in their WiMAX-capable Burst for an LTE version of the device, and will receive an $89 credit toward the purchase of an LTE-capable Burst.

$10/mo for 10 GB with a one-time $90 Burst WiMax Modem/Router purchase is still a great deal. The basic service speed is 1.5 Mbps, which is good enough for all web usage except HD video streaming. Also since it's WiMax, pings are about 100 ms higher than wired broadband. Ok for gaming and VoIP even. I've been using it for a little over a month now and have disconnected my expensive Comcat broadband.